Apparatus for desulfurizing ores or other substances.



' Patented July 9, I901. J. P. WETHEBILL. APPARATUS FOR DESULFURIZING ORES'DROTHER SUBSTANCES.

(Applicition filed Nov. 6, 1897.)

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Patented July 9, I901.

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J. P. WETHERILL.

(Application filed Nov. 6, 1897.)

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APPARATUS FOR DESULFUBIZING ORES'OR OTHER SU BSTANCE S.

(N0 Model.)

678mg Patented July 9, 19m,-

.1. P. WETHERILL.

APPARATUS FOR DESULFURIZING (IRES OR OTHER SUBSTANCES (Applicatioxi filed Nov. 6, 1897.) (No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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No. 678,078. Patented July 9, 190i.

J. P. WETHERILL.

APPARATUS FUR DESULFURIZING DRES OR OTHER SUBSTANCES.

(Application filed 'Nov. 6, 1897.) (No Model.) 7 Sheets$heet 4.

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No. 678,078. Patented July 9, IBM.

J. P. WETHERI LL. APPARATUS FOR DESULFURIZING OBES OR OTHER SUBSTANCES.

A licti n filed Nov. 6, 18913 7 ShaetsSheet 5.

(No Mo del.)

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No. 678,078. Patented July 9, 190i.

' J. P. WETHERILL.

APPARATUS FOR DESULFURIZING 0858 DB DTHEB SUBSTANCES.

(Application filed Nov. 6. 1897.)

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No. 678,078. Patent ed, m 9,1901; J. P. WETHERILL.

APPARATUS FOR DESULFURIZING ORES OR OTHER SUBSTANCES.

- (Application filed Nov. 6, I897.) (No Model.)

@mwtoz UNiTaD. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PRICE WETI-IERILL, or so TH BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR DESULFURlZlNG oats OR OTHER- SUBSTANCES.

SPECIFICATION forming part'of Letters Patent No. 678,078, dated July 9,1901.

I A pr ise filed November 6,1897. Serial No. 657,610. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, J oHN PRICE WETHER- ILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bethlehem, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Apparatus for Desulfurizing Ores or other Substances; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the; invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and heretofore requiredyery' considerable ex penditure of time and fuel for their successful treatment. 7

Prior to my present invention it has been customary in modern furnaceshaving auto-1 matic stirrers or rabbles for the roasting of ores containing sulfur to permit the products of combustion from the gas-furnaces or otherheating-furnaces to pass directly into the tunnel or hearth upon which the ore undergoing treatment rests and to convey said products of combustion, together with the sulfur fumes incident to the operation, into the open air by means of the usual chimney-stack. In this practice the sulfur is not recovered and goes to waste. The proper oxidation of the sulfur is delayed by the presence of the large quantity of carbonic-acid gas present in the prodnets of combustion within the roasting tun nel or chamber and by the presence of the sulfur fumes themselves,which, developed in greater volume at thepoint of entrance of the ore into the tunnel, pass on over the entire body of ore contained therein before finding their exit at the flue leading to the chimney-stack.- As a consequence of these and other conditions the roasting of zincblende in even the best of the modern roasting-furnaces has been prior to myinvention a time-consuming and expensive operation; With the purpose ofmaterially shortening the period of roasting these and like ores, and thereby obtaining a larger or increased output of roasted ore and securing a corresponding economyin the amount of'fuel and labor incident to such roasting I have devised the improvements hereinafter described.

The main characteristic features of my invention consist in excluding from the roasting-chamber proper the products of combustion of the gas-furnaces or other heating-furnaces and supplying to theroasting-chamber at suitable intervals throughout its length the necessary quantities of air at suitable temperatures for the proper oxidation of the sulfur, utilizing the heat of the burning sulfur itself to assist in maintaining the proper roastin g temperature throughout a suitable length of the f urnace-chamber, withdrawing the sulfur fumes at the point where they are disengaged with sufficient richness to enable them to be economically condensed and recovered, and thereby interrupting their continued progress over the ore nearer the exit end of the chamber,reg'ula'ting the degree of heatin each successive section of the roasting-chamber in accordance with the particular requirements of each of such sections, heating the roasting-chamber from below and from the top by means'of flues separately controllable, and employing the waste produ'cts'of combustion for the purpose of preheating the incoming air employed in the apparatus.

. My invention further consists in certain de-,

tails of construction,particularly the construction of the floor of the roasting-chamber, in connection with its supporting-arches, whereby substantial uniformity of heatingsurface is obtained across the entire Width of such floor, as will be hereinaftermore particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a roasting-furnace embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 represents a plan view thereof in section. Fig. 3 represents in section, on a larger scale, the initial portion of the furnace, illustrating also the ore-feeding device therefor. Fig. 4 represents a vertical section of the exit portion of the furnace and its adjuncts. Fig. 5 represents a longitudinal horizontal section through the upper heating-chamber. Fig. 6 represents a like section through the lower continuous tunnel extending from. one end to' the other of the structure and provided at its inlet end with Weighted fiap-doorsa a and'at' its exit end with similar. doors I) b. The

roasting-chamber is provided with ava'ulted roof 0, as shown, and itsfloor-consistsof m series of tiles of refractory:materiald}said tiles'being= rabbeted, as shown,.anddieingc These supported by subjacent: arches e: arches e are placed atshort=distances-apart; thereby leaving a free:interveningrspaceto which the products of combustion/from the; gas or roasting furnaces haveafull' access;

these intervals being spanned" byythetil-esz- As 1 aconsequence of "this.:construction the" floor of the roasting-chamberis' -subjected across its entire width to substantially the sameheating efiect, which @wouldnotfbe the case were the floor supported'by-a"single'con= tinuous arch. By;reason of "this' iinproved? floor construction the ore is heated to sub stantiall y the sametemperatu re across the en-e the width of the roasting=chamberg'andthere' fore the product'obtained isoff'correspond ingly uniform quality, th'e-roastingrprocess itself proceeding uniformly acrossth'e'entire body of" ore. It is therefore not neces=- sary to detainin the furnace-"any"portion of ore. to await the completed l'oastingrofithe" remaining portions near the'sustainingfwa-lls of the arches, as has heretofore been'found essential, and a corresponding vain' intime, as well as in uniformityof'product;is-ob tained; of floor-tiles rests upon shouldersof the sup porting-arches and in'such' mannerth'at Iithe" upper surface ofthe tiles is fiush with the,

upper-surface portions of "the arches; which project above the S11[JPOILlIIgfShOUl'dGISJ By; this expedient the roasting=chamher"is-pro vided with an entirely smoothfloor'; andeaclf course of tiles isisecurely held againstany possible longitudinal movement;

Beneath the arches e extend combustionchambers-for the reception of products of combustion from the gas or other heatingfft'ire naces employed, and above the vaulted roof c of the roasting-chamber 'extend' auxiliary combustion-chainhers providedfto'rtlre regulated admission of products ofCom-bhstion from the same'furnaces, so thatth'eroastingr; chamber, shut off entirely from accessthere to of the products of combustion from-theiheating-furnaces, is heated externally an-top;

and bottom, as Will hereinaftermore -fuily appear.

provided with a vaulted roof f, whose key- Itwill be observed th'at'eachcourse" The upper combustion-chambervisstone: gvis stepped within-a body of refractory sand contained in a channel above the arch c, the purpose of this construction being that whatever expansion or contraction may take place-in the arch c the same will not be transri'ers -B'travel are-located entirely'outside of theroasting-cham'ber and in'the'open air,-and ther shafts oraxles of the carriersv extend throu'gh ='la'teral op'eningsinnthe side wallsof ithe*roastihgchttmhar, said'u lateral. openings being protected by a series of pivoted plates, whicharesuccessivelyyra-ised byuthe=passage of?the carrier and successively resumetheir pendent p'osition, so'as to'close tlre'sideopenings as far as it is practicable so to'do. The entrance of cold'air 'into'the furnace is therebyfguarded ag-ainst'; 1 anduto the same end it x is' usuall'y preferred toxin aintain: such pressure-avithi-nd heroasti n-gachamber :as will con tribute -ftrrthei-"to the exclusion of "any material qu an tity; 0f -'cold air.

Theroasting-chamber' may be considered as consisting, first, of an initial portion within' whi-ch the-ore is suppliedwith heated air maintained-"alta fairlydiigh' temperature in order-to'raisethe-ore*toadull-red heat rapidl'y' and' to thereby 1 start I the separation of th'e' -sulfur from-the zincg secondly, of "an intermediate 'porti'on in-which the heat evolved by th'e transition'of'the liberated sulfur into SO; serves tomaintain' the desired tempera tu re -without the' necessi-tyof further air-supply-and without'reqniring as intense-a com.- bustion in-the external combustionfiuemfor which reason-also the saidiintermediate portion may} be of greater-"length than its-predecessoruvith equal capacity in the gas prod-ilcersor-furnaces -thirdly ofione or more additionahportions, wherein heated air is again admitted to -further th-"e combustion of the :sulfur and w'herein the external combustionfliles are brought*to .a .higl1' at temperature beca1-1seof'- the-much less rapid rate atwhich the sulfur is separated. I prefer, indeed,-.to bring thefihalor exitportion of. the roasting- ;chamber to=th ehighest temperature available iirorder toaccelerate-the difficult separation otthe last of thesulfur thatiis necessary to fbe separated; and to thisend the portion of the roastingachamber beyond the'intermediate portion referred to may be considered as era-07s consisting of two subportions, each of which is independently heated by external combustion-chambers, the final subportion being of less length than its predecessor and. being brought to the highest temperature employed in the apparatus.

is supplied with products of combustion from the furnaces proximate to it. The combustion-chambers D D are supplied, respectively, from the gas-producers .L L. stead of passing directly into the combustionchambers D D passes first through the pre; heating-stoves X X, whose purpose and function is to preheat the air to be supplied to the initial portion of the roasting-chamber. The

particular construction of the preheatingstoves X X may be varied within wide limits, although I prefer to employ the construction illustrated in the drawings, wherein the at-- mospheric air to be heated enters through descending branches n n of air-supply mains E E into basal chambers m m beneath a series of arches which support the superjacent brickwork of the stoves. Thisbrickwork consists of parallel courses of perforated refraction of the roasting-chamber, thereby supplying to the ore therein oxygen in the form best adapted for combining with sulfur-to wit, at a high temperature. Between the parallel courses of air-flues s-s' extend parallel courses of horizontal flues c 1;, located directly above the supporting arches and formed by tiles w, which, as shown, are supported upon projeccourses of horizontal flues 4), pass through said courses and thence into and through the three upper courses of lines o, from which they enter the combustion-chamber D, where they meeta volume of heated air supplied for the purpose of setting up a secondary combustion. They thence pass from the combustion-chamber D, throu ghother flues, as shown,

to the main stack Z. It will of coursebe understood that a portion of .the products of combustion from the gas-producers L L, as hereinbeforedescribed, enters the top combus- This gas instacks K K. entering the combustion-chambers H H encounter at their entrance thereinto a body of 'tion-chambers. P P through the flues .or passages 19 the quantity thus supplied to the said combustion-chambers being regulated by means of the valves which govern the outlet auxiliary stacks M M Air for setting up secondary combustion in the said top combustion-chambers is furnished through the ports or passages 10 19. (See Figs. 3, 5, and 7.) The heating-stove is built in the general structure immediately below the roasting-chamber and,together with the roasting-chamber itself, is secured, tied, and strengthened by vertical buckstays and horizontal I-beams, as shown. The combustion-chambers F F G G for the next or intermediate portion of the roasting-chamber are supplied with products of combustion from the pair of gas-producers M'M through the flues y y and 11 1 It will be-noted that these flues enter the com- .bustion-chambers at their remote ends and pass onward toward the initial portionvof the roasting-chamber, at which point they pro-' ceed onward toward the main stack Z, as shown. The degree of heat to which the ore "is subjected in the intermediate portion of the furnace referred to therefore gradually increases from the beginning to the end of said intermediate portion and for the reason that as the ore in its onward travel is constantly becoming poorer in sulfur a correspondingly gradual increase of external heat is requisite to maintain the temperature necessary to the continued liberation of the sulfur. At some convenient point or points in the intermediate portion of the roastingchamber the sulfur fumes are continuously a a -by means of .which they are carried to suitable condensing or recovering chambers. In view of the high temperature produced by the combustion of the sulfur in the intermediate portion of the roasting-chamber it is not necessary to supply heated air for second ary combustion in the combustion chambers F F, and for this reason I dispense with a preheating-stove beneath the intermediate portion of the roasting-chamber, and instead thereof that portion of the roasting-chamber is supported upon columns and Lbeams, and

in order to prevent radiation of heat the transverse I-beams are spanned by hollow bustion-chambers H H J J, which are supplied with products of combustion from the gas-producers N N. The quantity of the products of combustion furnished to the combustion-chambers J J is determined by the valves governingthe outlets of the auxiliary The products of combustion IOO taken off-as, for instance, through thefiues heated air supplied from subjacent preheating-stoves X X and pass downwardly through the courses of combustion-fines in said stoves, as indicated by the arrows. The stoves X X are preferably of the same construction as the stoves X X and in like manner receive a supply of atmospheric air from the air mainsE E, said air passing upwardly through the vertical air-fines to the chamber 0 from which a portion enters the combustion-chambers H H J J, as described, and from which a further portion passes through a flue 11 into the interior of the roasting-chamber, thereby supplying highly-heated air to the body of ore therein. The preheatingstoves X X need not extend for the entire length of the combustion-chambers H H. They may, if desired, be materially shorter, as shown, in which event a portion of the flue of the chamber 41 may be supported by the I-beam and hollow tile flooring B The final portion of the roasting-chamber is provided with means for maintaining therein the highest temperature employed in the roasting-chamber. To this end the preheatingstoves X X extend beneath the entire length of said final portion of the roasting-chamber and raise the incoming air to a very hightemperature. The stoves X X are preferably of the same construction as the hereinbeforementioned preheating-stoves,and the preheated air, after it has entered the chamberr is in part supplied through suitable openings or passages '0 v to the combustion-chambers Q Q R B, so as to set up a secondary combustion therein,thereby developing the maximum amount of heat from the gases. A flue o furnishes a supply of highly-heated air to the interior of the roasting-chamber, where it is utilized to advantage in connection with the high heat produced in the external combustion-chambers for the final elimination of the last portions of sulfur which the furnace is designed to remove. The combustion-chambers R R are provided with stacks K K having valves which control the stack-outlet, and which may be manipulated to regulate the quantity of the products of combustion entering said chambers from the gas producers.

In case it is desired to remove the fumes weak in sulfur from the last portion of the roasting-chamber, exit-fines a a, similar to the exit-fines a a are provided for that purose.

While in the drawings I have illustrated my invention as applied to what is known as a straight-line furnace, I desire to be distinctly understood as not limiting the invention thereto, and for the obvious reason that whether the furnace be of the straight-line type or the well-known turret or horseshoe types the same variable temperatures can be maintained in difierent successive sections of the furnace, and the same variable volumes of heated fresh air may be admitted at the desired points and at the temperatures best adapted to the requirements of the ore in its several stages of desulfurization.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The method of roasting by furnace heat a progressively moving or advancing charge of ore containing sulfur, which consists in excluding therefrom the products of combustion of the heating-furnace, admitting air at an initial portion of the oreand partially oxidizing the sulfur thereby, maintaining the roasting temperature along an advanced portion of the charge by the combustion of the sulfur, withdrawing the sulfur fumes at said advanced portion so as to prevent them from passing on over the remainder of the ore, and finally admitting additional quantities of air to oxidize the sulfur in portions of the charge still further advanced.

2. A roasting-chamber,provided with means for progressively advancing and stirring the furnace charge, said roasting-chamber having a series or succession of external heatingchambers along its length, each of said heating-chambers having its individual source of heat-supply, the central portion of the roasting-chamber being provided with an offtakeflue for sulfur fumes, and the heating-chambers both in vrear of and beyond the central portion being connected with air-preheating stoves whose airflues discharge into the roasting-chamber.

3. A roasting-chamber,provided with means for progressively advancing and stirring the furnace charge, said roasting-chamber having external heating-cha1nbers,and being provided at substantially its central portion with an oiftake-fiue for sulfur fumes, and hotair-inlet fines openinginto the roasting-chamber both in rear of and beyond its central portion.

4:. A roasting-chamber, provided along its length with a series of successive but independent external heating-chambers,each having its individual source of heat-supply, in combination with air-preheating stoves connected with the initial and final members of the series, and air-supply fiues leading from the stoves into the interior of the roastingchamber. i

5. A roasting-chamber, provided along its length with a series of successive but independent external heating-chambers,each hav ing its individual source of heat-supply, in combination with air-preheating stoves connected with the initial and final members of the series, and an offtake-fl ue for sulfur fumes leading from an intermediate portion of the roasting-chamber.

6. A roasting-chamber, provided along its length with a series of successive but independent external heating-chambers,each having its individual source of heat-supply, in

combination with air-preheating stoves connected with the initial and final members of the series, an offtake-fiue for sulfur fumes leading from an intermediate portion of the IIO roasting-chamber, and air-supply flues leading from the stoves into the initial and final portions of the roasting-chamber.

7. A roasting-chamber, provided with a series of external heating-chambers along its 10. A roasting-chamber, having a source of heat-supply, and provided with a floor consisting of a series of transverse arches, the intervals between the arches being spanned by flooring-tiles resting upon shoulders of the arches so as to form a smooth floor for the roasting-chamber.

11. A roasting-chamber, provided with a vaulted roof, and an upper externalheatingchamber having a vaulted roof, the latter roof having its central keystone continued down to form a longitudinal partition in the heating-chamber,and being stepped in a body of sand or the like.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN PRICE WETHERILL. lVitnesses:

O. WETHERILL, J r., GEORGE W. SELTZER. 

